OUR FOUNDER
C R SHIVAKUMAR
C R Shivakumar was born in 1938 in Bangalore. After studying his civil engineering at the Central College Bangalore (one of the oldest colleges in India) he established Kumar and Swamy in 1969. It is one of Bangalore's oldest architecture firms. He started it as a civil engineering outfit but slowly it developed into an architecture and design house.
C R Shivakumar was a remarkable human being. His passion for life was indomitable. He was an avid reader and loved to travel. He traveled most of south India and parts of the north. He even traveled to Europe. He was married to Uma Shivakumar a renowned theater and film personality in the Kannada Industry. He was a patron of the arts; be it music, dance, drama or writing. He had many friends in these circles. He had a very deep and rooted love for nature and Bangalore as a city. He instilled these values in his family, who carry them forward to this day.
THE PARTNERS
HARSHA SHIVAKUMAR
HARSHA SHIVAKUMAR is the son of CR Shivakumar. Born an brought up in Bangalore, he finished his architecture in 1990 when he and Sanchali Harsha won the competition to design Mallya Aditi, soon after which they got married. Since then, at the helm of Kumar and Swamy, he has been designing schools all over India. He is a lover of music and has hosted several noted musicians in his home for private concerts. He is a keen biker and student of the open road, travelling all over south India on one of his many bikes, he has seen everything. He is a good golfer and you may find him hanging out in KGA when he has some free time. His passion for travelling has taken him all over the world. He is an innovator in school design and has brought many innovations to children's physical and emotional safety.
SANCHALI HARSHA
SANCHALI HARSHA was born in Bidar, North Karnataka when her father S.K Ghosal was posted there as part of the IAS. She spent her childhood travelling the country where her father's job would take her and has lived everywhere. She studied her architecture with Harsha Shivakumar in college where they met and eventually they got married. Sanchali Harsha has the additional expertise in retail design which she handled for a number of years for LEVIS, designing their stores all over south east Asia. For her work during this time, she won two awards. Since 2004 she has been at the helm of Kumar and Swamy. She is an innovator in the field of education design and is well versed in the psychology of children. She believes in what she does and it is evident in her work over the last 30 years.
PAROMITA HARSHA
PAROMITA HARSHA is an architect and artist from Bangalore, India. She has been working at her family firm - Kumar and Swamy architects since early 2018. A third generation architect, she has lived and breathed design her whole life. She is specialising in educational projects and commercial projects. She has been working and continues to work on several instituonal and commercial projects all over India. She has also completed a certificate course from MOMA on modern art appreciation and history. She is a digital and mixed media artist in her free time. Recently she has talso taught interior design and art history at Bangalore school of design.
OUR DESIGN APPROACH
As one of our core principles of design, we believe that we are here to interpret the philosophy, the vision and the core ethics of an institution into a design of a building or infrastructure. Hence, we don’t have any distinct style, we believe the style of the building should reflect the values of the institution.
We believe that as architects, our job is to help the people we work with achieve their dreams.
We strive to understand the philosophy and vision of the institution we are working with and reflect that in our architecture.
We believe in creating spaces which are not just aesthetically pleasing but also functionally valid, without losing the feeling of discovery and anticipation which makes using these spaces an enriching experience.
We also understand that each and every culture has an indigenous expression which has evolved over a period of time, influenced by the climate, the materials available and the local customs. We strive to incorporate this in our work to make the spaces relevant to the people we are designing for.
We have worked with leading institutions in our country and carry with us the best practices and learning from them.
More importantly, we are very passionate about what we do and love creating and building environments that excite and stimulate the intellect.
THE STUDIO
At Kumar and Swamy, we believe that architecture is not limited to the office. The development of every individual is important to us.
A small team of Architects and Interns, everyone in our office gets a chance to design and express themselves in some way or the other. We do not limit our activities to the office. We encourage the appreciation of music, film and art because, without a real understanding of creativity, it is tough to be a successful architect. We also like to travel and see new places, learning as much as we can about context and culture.
The human condition drives our profession and to be successful at it; you need to be a well-read, well-travelled, well-rounded individual. This is what we strive to instil in everyone who works with us.